Highland Games x 150 years

My new phone hasn't as good a camera as the Samsung had but the Samsung had other issues and I'm adjusting. I should relearn to carry a camera for days like today at the Highland Games. Victoria's HG are celebrating 150 years this weekend. I don't know how ours stacks up with others around the world but we like it, especially on another perfect 20 degree day. There are lots of venders, serious genealogy tents, clan tents, dance competitions, pipe band competitions, drum major competitions, duck (and dog) herding, heavy events, food, beer, and a single malt school. Something for everyone.     

     
 

We decided the caber toss is not possible and then saw someone do it. It's basically a telephone pole that has to be carried and tossed  to land end-over-end in a straight line. Ridiculous! Competitors come from all over North America probably because there aren't that many crazy enough.

Finally you can buy a beer and walk around with it instead of being corralled into a beer tent. So civilized. You have to be wearing an event bracelet indicating you ID has been checked.

 

More than 200 in the massed pipe and drum band at the end of the day. Magic! The Simon Fraser University band has won the world title 6 times and their drum major is the current world champion.

Tomorrow the Victoria Day Parade with 35-40 marching bands. Apparently this parade is one that qualifies nads for something or other, The Rose Bowl Parade I think, so we always get lots of fab bands. It starts at 9, which is a bit rude in my book since it means I have to get moving before I really want to but on the other hand I'll be a long time dead. :-)

Just another day...

Someday I'll write about living in a strata (condominium to everyone outside BC) or, more to the point, being La Presidenta; but not yet.
I've been spending way too much time on strata business lately, all day yesterday and awake half the night, so I decided it was time to get off the "farm" today. I took the bus downtown looking for a pair of chinos, not that successfully, and then called "my driver" who had been playing golf to meet me at Fisherman's Wharf for lunch. It was a very fine day to be there, anywhere really.

It's hard to tell if this boat is parked there or holding up the ice cream store. I think the latter.

lots of people around, of course

the Harbour Ferry in amongst the houseboats

Last Saturday we went to the Muse Winery for the spring release party. The bottles weren't even labelled it was so recently bottled. Naturally the new wines were green but the potential is there and there were lots of other vintages available.
 
Two weeks ago we toddled off to Butchart Gardens to see the tulip display. We have an annual pass so don't have to gasp about the $30.00 entry fee every time we go thank heavens. We spent a few sunny hours, had lunch, and enjoyed the spectacle.

Last Virginia Post, maybe

Thinking back, it might have been that I was interested in seeing DC that prompted us to go to Virginia. For me, it was like going to London. Many buildings and monuments are familiar from the news or TV shows and movies, and much of our history and present is tied to events in Washington.

As a federal district, Washington hasn't any representation in Congress or the Senate although it has a municipal government.

Williamsburg is a good distance from Washington which is famous for crazy traffic, so I booked a bus with a transfer in Richmond. By now we knew that I-64 could be a problem and, sure enough, we only just made the connection. I had also booked the hotel, thanks to Tripadvisor which has rarely let us down, the University of George Washington Inn in Foggy Bottom. Who comes up with these names? UGW is known as "the university that ate Foggy Bottom" because it has literally taken over the neighbourhood. It turned out to be a fantastic location: 15 minute walk to the Lincoln Memorial, 5 minutes to the Kennedy Center,

The terrace level of the Kennedy Centre, ENORMOUS (there are people in the picture, so small they are barely visible). There are four small theaters on this level sitting on top of 3 large concert halls on the main floor. 

15 to Dupont Circle, next door to the Department of State (does everyone watch Madame Secretary?), and our hotel was comfortable and quiet.
I had also booked a walking tour, 6 hours that turned into 8 with a 30 minute lunch break, with DC Insiders. Bo, who is a deportation lawyer in real life, is passionate about DC and another of the many story tellers we met. We started at Dupont Circle with a 15 minute history-of-Washington lecture, walked up Embassy Row, across Rock Creek to Georgetown,

A street in Georgetown

past the Washington Harbor development, the Watergate, and the Kennedy Center, to the National Mall, and eventually the White House. It happened to be Easter Sunday and sunny so there were masses of people on the Mall which is a huge green space in the heart of the city, essentially a memorial park.

the Lincoln Memorial is much larger than we thought it would be

Bo in front of the Vietnam Memorial about which he had many stories. The highly reflective stone is meant to connect the present to the past.

The Washington Monument, also huge.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival was on but the winter was so cold and the spring so late there were no cherry blossoms to be seen. The star magnolias were doing their best to put on a show for we tourists but even many of the water features, like the Reflecting Pool on the Mall, had not yet been filled.
Several people assumed we would spend time at the Smithsonian, maybe not realizing how many museums that entails. It would take weeks and we had hours.
Washington is a nice city of neighbourhoods and what we saw felt livable. According to Bo it's had its ups and downs and only 20 years ago was burdened with grime and crime. Today it feels liveable and vibrant and it was a highlight of the trip east for all of us. The "all" of course includes Pat and Ed with whom we often travel, combining a visit and an exploration. For me, the highlight of all our trips is that we get along well enough to spend time together and we'll always have those memories. It would be nice to live closer to each other but we don't so we make the best of it.

in front of the White House

Btw, the bus and train depots are both at Union Station and before we left the station to find our hotel we abandoned our return bus tickets and booked on Amtrak for the return. One train, no transfer and still the train was an hour late getting us back to Williamsburg. I don't know how anyone can plan to be anywhere, especially if you are obsessively punctual like I am.

The train station in Williamsburg

Union Station

Because of the traffic problems I convinced the troops to transition to Richmond on Thursday afternoon instead of driving directly to the airport on Friday morning. Did I say the airport is about 45 minutes from Williamsburg? Our concierge though an hour and a half should do it on a Friday morning but I was anxious about it. Jim says I getting crazier. Friday morning we woke up to dense fog and a cancelled flight. We were standing at the gate counter when the flight was cancelled so got a quick transfer from United/Air Canada to Delta/Alaska and actually got home about 15 minutes earlier than our original schedule. Without luggage of course which showed up 2 days later.

Jim asked me where I want to go next and I answered "home". Repeatedly.

Williamsburg, The Main Event

Thirty years ago this August, when Jim and I were travelling south to spend a year in South Carolina, my parents told us to try to avoid the traffic around Baltimore. To do that we went east down the peninsula that includes Maryland and part of Virginia, across the 25 mile Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel, and stumbled into Williamsburg. We spent about an hour and moved on and were intrigued.
It's hard to explain Williamsburg or do it justice. First of all, "Colonial Williamsburg" is actually Williamsburg. All day every day and well into the evening, Williamsburg is alive with actors and tourists. Sure, there are modern shopping centres, hotels, housing developments, fire and police department, but downtown Williamsburg is the colonial museum which is about a mile log and several streets deep, and has 88 "original" buildings. I'm not sure what they mean by original because someone told us that Williamsburg was pretty much burned down during the revolution; I'm still muddled. I do know that Bruton Parish Church (Episcopalian) was built in 1715 and the Governor's Palace is a reproduction.

Art from armor, in the entry of the Governor's Palace 

and outside

Our first day on site we bought an annual pass for very little more than a one-day pass. The annual pass gave us unlimited access to buildings and tours but you don't actually have to have any kind of pass to be in the town centre, listening to actors and getting a feel for the place. There aren't any walls, barriers, entry gates; it's just downtown Williamsburg.

Our 'orientation' guide, demonstrating the pillory.What I didn't know is that the piece you sit on is a narrow piece of metal and that hurts. 

George Washington making the rounds. Last night we saw him galloping that  horse up the green on his way to rally the masses. The actors are always in character.

Dinner on the patio at Christiana Campbell's tavern. Yummm!

Colour!

A short comment on colour; we're leaving shortly for a couple of days in DC. By bus.
I the private plantation houses we haven't been able to take photos but we've been surprised, astonished even, by the wall

colours which apparently are true to the era of 1630-1750-ish. Pink drawing rooms, bright green, blue, combinations of the three, and occasionally a conservative rich cream (Shirley Plantation).
In Williamsburg itself, the buildings are public so we were able to take photos in the Wythe house, the first time we saw wallpaper instead of paint. As you can imagine wallpaper was expensive "in the day". Obviously there were  no rules about mixing patterns as long as the colours didn't clash too badly. Very liberating but I think it would be exhausting to live with.

Last Battle

On another really cold day we went to Yorktown which I had to practice not calling Yorkton from Canadian history. We aren't in Canada Dorothy, not even Kansas. I am constantly surprised at how many original buildings there are from the mid-1700's despite 2 wars and wood fired heat and cooking: 88 in Colonial Williamsburg alone. And brick sidewalks.

Yorktown is the town and site of the last battle of the American Revolution, October 1781, although the Treaty of Paris wasn't signed until 1783.
Yorktown is all about the battle field and museum. There is a tiny town and a very good pub along with a 'fancy' river front (York river) development of shops and restaurants. There's a free shuttle between the museum on the escarpment and the fancy area below. Fancy that!

We started at the museum and met the guide-who-went-too-far. It was cold enough that he took us into a classroom for the introductory information. An hour later he had covered the entire Revolution, northern campaign, southern campaign, everything in between, and with more names of battles, generals and colonels that you would think possible. And after all that some rotten little 10 year old asked questions. Sigh. We left the guide shortly after we finally went outdoors as he launched into a blow by blow description of the American and British lines of defense and we were freezing. Then we toured the museum and got the 5 minute version which made more sense of the ebb and flow of the conflict.

In the museum they also had a replica ship, much of Yorktown's history was the result of the naval battle at the mouth of the Chesapeake, and Washington's actual field tent. People are really into local history here and they save things in case it ever matters. The Washington battle memorabilia was saved by a slave. The ironies never end.
What I had forgotten from high school history was that the American Revolution wouldn't have ended in favour of the colonies without the French. Not then anyway. Also interesting is that Lafayette was only 19 when he became a general and acolyte of Washington.

First Settlement

In typical form, here at least, everything has to be the first, best, or last, or it doesn't get much attention. Sometimes the language is subtle, as in Jamestown's claim. Many people think it was the first European settlement but, officially, they say "the first permanent British settlement". It might even be true; who knows. Suffice it to say it matters to folks around here so we made the 5 minute drive to check it out and met our first of many story tellers Bentley Boyd www.chestercomix.com.
He was set up just inside the visitor centre door, (Jamestown is a National Park) an unofficial greeter and seemed seriously excited that we were there instead of at the adjacent theme park, Jamestown Settlement. His enthusiasm was infectious and welcome on a seriously cold day (5C! and windy).

Jim and Pat on the boardwalk/bridge between the visitor centre and site. The obelisk is a memorial to the past people.

The smith was making ugly little 3-pointed weapons that would have been liberally scattered on the ground, hundreds, for horses to step on and be crippled. War wasn't any nicer then than now but maybe more intimate.

This volunteer plays a musketeer character and never breaks his role. He's fabulous and his olde English never quits. One of many entertainers we've seen this week.

One of the ongoing archaeological digs and the experts well bundled up!

Pocahontas of legend, who may or may not have interceded for John Smith but certainly didn't marry him, rather A farmer called John Rolfe.

Apparently common thought was that Jamestown had been lost to erosion into the James River, but an archaeologist, whose name I can't find without more effort than I care to give it today, thought maybe not. He started a dig in 1994 and discovered the original fort structure and millions of artifacts from the first few years. When I commented that he (whoever he is) was the MVP of the area, the response was that he (name still unknown) could be considered the MVP for the country. Have I mentioned the enthusiasm we've met EVERYWHERE for anything historical? Almost hysterical? But fun. Needless to say Dr. No Name hasn't had any trouble getting grant money since then. The result is an interesting museum, ongoing archaeological work and a vibrant historical site.

But MAN it was a cold day. :-( We were attracted to anything warm like the smith and the glass blowers. Fortunately both were fascinating.

I'm getting muddled

We're in Virginia for a couple of weeks and it's a confusing place. Specifically we are on "the peninsula", site of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown where an awful lot of US history occurred. Jamestown is the sight of the first permanent British settlement in North America under John Smith of Pocahontas legend. Williamsburg was the first capital of Virginia and where the American Revolution began, and Yorktown is where the last battle of the American Revolution took place, the defeat of Cornwallis, under Washington and Lafayette. I'll get around to those places in a few days; they are within 30 minutes of each other by car and we are staying in the midst of them.
I'm starting with Richmond, where we landed and did no more than wander, go to one museum and have lunch before driving to Williamsburg, all of an hour away.
Adding to my befuddlement is that Richmond, now the capitol of Virginia was where, slowly but surely, the 3 initial peoples (Native, African, and European) evolved from working together to being owner or slave. Richmond was the capitol of the short lived Confederacy whose only president was Jefferson Davis. Downtown present day Richmond is derelict with blocks of empty store fronts in the midst of beautiful government buildings and grounds. Sad.

The White House of the Confederacy 

one of many versions of the Confederate flag

Not sure why George Washington is featured in Richmond, but there he is.

the state seal

state legislature building with Jim to give the scale

the stunning Carpenter Theatre

Just in case you weren't paying attention, we've got: the first settlement, the beginning of the American Revolution, the last battle of the Revolution, the introduction of slavery, the capitol of the Confederacy.
The ironies are unlimited, such as the state motto is "always against tyranny" referring to British rule and adopted shortly before slavery was.